Second Chances
by InuFan4life
Summary: Kagome is a single mother working to support her two children.  Will true love find her?


Summary: Kagome is a divorced woman working to support herself and her two children. Will true love find her?

Just as an advanced apology to all the Kouga fans…he's going to be a total jerk…sorry, but I had to make someone the bad guy!

This is an AU fic, and for my purposes, Sota will be older than Kagome…just a head's up so there's no confusion.

This will be a multi-chapter story.

Disclaimer: Nope, after all this time, I still don't own Inu-Yasha…but I do own the children! And anyone else I put in willy nilly!

"Sasuke! Misaki! Hurry up or we're going to be late! AGAIN!" Kagome yelled down the hall to her children as she finished her hair and slipped into her shoes. Their apartment was not large, but it was theirs. She worked extremely hard to make sure the bills were paid and that her kids wanted for nothing. Random pictures of her, her 7 year old son Sasuke, and her 9 year old daughter Misaki practically covered all of the walls.

Kagome had finished her last year of school the year before and began working at the hospital soon thereafter as a labor and delivery nurse. It was what she had wanted to do for as long as she could remember, and finally her dream had come true. Of course, it wasn't the perfect life she had imagined, but she was happier than she had been in a very long time.

As Sasuke and Misaki came bursting through their respective rooms, she couldn't help but smile. Misaki was her mini-me. There was no doubt in anyone's mind who saw them together that she was Kagome's daughter, with her dark hair and same chocolate eyes. As her eyes shifted to her son, her eyes clouded over with tears. Although he also had some of her features, he looked just like his father, Kouga. His hair was the same jet black with the exact same piercing blue eyes that had drawn Kagome in all those years ago.

***Flashback***

10 Years ago

Kagome had just gone to sleep after another long overnight shift at the hotel she worked at minutes before her phone rang. With a groan, she rolled over in her bed and groggily answered the offending device.

"Mmm…hello…?" She spoke softly, without looking at the caller ID first.

"Hey sis! Umm…were you sleeping?" The voice of her brother came through her cloudy mind and she shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"No, Sota, I always answer my phone like the living dead. What's up?" She had to laugh. Her brother may be a dweeb, but they were close and she'd hurt anyone who said anything about him.

"Well, I was wondering what you were doing this weekend. Wait, what am I saying? I know you're free, so I'm going to cut to the chase. Do you want to go on a date? Kairi has this friend and he's seen pictures of you and wanted to know if he could meet you." Sota waited for her response. He'd tried a million times to get her to go out, but had yet to be successful, so imagine his surprise when she came up with a muttered, "what the hell, why not." To be honest, she was lonely and thought it would be nice to go out. Who knew what would come of it. This could be her chance to find the happiness she so longed for.

They set a time and place to meet up before hanging up so she could get some much needed sleep.

That following Sunday, Kagome took an extra long shower before putting on her best pair of dress jeans and a purple blouse that complemented her eyes and skin tone. After throwing on a pair of sleek pumps she brushed and fiddled with her hair until it shone and tumbled around her shoulders like a sea of dark chocolate. She applied a light touch of make-up and set out for her date.

Kouga and Kagome hit it off immediately and from that moment on, they became inseparable. It truly was a whirlwind romance. Two months into their relationship, Kouga had proposed and four short months later, they were married. One month after that, Kagome found out that she was pregnant with Misaki.

The first nine months of their marriage was amazing. Kouga was the best husband in the world in her naïve eyes. He rubbed her belly every night and told her how he would be the best father a child could ever ask for.

When she went into labor, he rushed her to the hospital and stayed by her side through it all and even cut the umbilical cord. Once Misaki was cleaned and swaddled, the nurse handed the tiny infant to Kouga and for all appearances, he seemed to be overwhelmed with emotions.

The problems started once they left the hospital. Kouga barely touched the small bundle of joy that he had proclaimed her to be at the hospital. He always had something else that needed to be done the second Kagome asked him to do something with Misaki, but Kagome didn't mind all that much. She was in love with that tiny, helpless human being that had come of their love. Within a month, he was barely around. Kagome was exhausted and confused about the change in her husband, but she knew it was hard for some men to adjust to being thrust into the father role. After all, they had only been married for 10 months and they had a one month old.

Then she found out about Nariko. Kouga had been running around on Kagome with Nariko since the week after Misaki was born. Kagome had been hurt and confronted Kouga. He came up with many excuses, each one as lame as the next, but for Misaki, she forgave him and they chose to work on their marriage.

***End flashback***

"Hello mom…Earth to mom!" Kagome blinked and looked down to see her world standing before her. One pair of chocolate eyes, one pair of blue eyes, both sets looking at her like she was crazy. Two crooked smiles, two heads full of messy hair, four arms waving in front of her face as though they were trying to cast a spell on her. She laughed and ruffled their hair.

"Sorry, I spaced out for a minute there…C'mon, let's go before I'm late for work and you two are late for school. I am not on your principal's nice list." Kagome quickly herded them outside and into the car. After parking in front of the school and placing a kiss to each forehead, Kagome watched as the two raced inside and sighed.

The life of a single mother was no picnic, but she'd rather be a single mother any day than to be a victim of violence again.

***Flashback***

7 years ago

Kagome rubbed her arms where bruises would surely be forming. Kouga was angry again and she didn't know why. If anyone had a right to be angry, it was her. She was nine months pregnant with their son, due any day and Kouga hadn't worked in months. She was the sole provider of their household and he wouldn't even take care of one and a half year old Masaki. This pregnancy had taken them by surprise, since she had been on birth control at the time, but she had been happy. Perhaps this time, things would be different.

Things weren't different, though. The longer they were together, the older Masaki got, and the longer into her pregnancy she became, the more Kouga went hunting for another woman to be with. The more women he found, the quicker Kagome found out and the more violent he became. The cycle continued in that circle for the entire pregnancy with Sasuke. Every time she confronted him, Kouga would become angry, questioning her reason for looking into his personal accounts.

"Why can't I have my privacy, Kagome? I don't go around snooping through your shit. How dare you go through my e-mails and messages?" Kouga screamed into Kagome's face as he backed her up against a wall, a ballistic Masaki in her arms.

"You left it sitting out for the entire world to see, Kouga! Did you expect that I wouldn't use _my_ computer at any point? If you don't want to be married, just say so. Don't do this to me, dammit!" That infuriated Kouga and he slammed his fist into the wall beside Kagome's head.

"This is your fault, you bitch! You push me away so what else do you want from me? I'm a man with needs and you refuse to satisfy them. How do I know you're even working when you say you are? You're probably with someone else. You're a filthy whore! How do I even know that kid you got in your gut is even mine?" Kouga roared into her face, droplets of saliva landing on her cheek that mixed with the tears that streamed down her face.

You're an asshole! How dare you even say that to me? I'm not the one cheating at the drop of a hat; that would be you. I think you need to leave…" She finished softly as she tried to calm down the balling form of their daughter, who was terrified.

Kouga immediately stopped ranting and tried to wrap his arms around Kagome.

"Kagome…I'm so sorry. I don't know why I said that. You're right, I fucked up. I have a problem, but as my wife you're supposed to help me with it. You can't get mad at me."

Kagome pushed away from him. "You do have a problem, but that is not something I can help you with. You need to figure that out on your own."

This vicious cycle of abuse continued until Sasuke was three months old. Finally, Kagome got the courage up to tell him that she was done with his infidelity and abuse. Kouga screamed, ranted and raved; he flung things at her and verbally tried to break her down. Kagome didn't listen to him as she removed the Masaki's car seat from their; no, his car. As he reminded her constantly, the car wasn't hers, she just paid for it.

The sight of her removing the car seat set Kouga off into another rage and he jumped into the driver's seat, quickly turning on the car. As Kagome pulled back, Kouga slammed the gas pedal to the floorboard and the car took off, nearly catching her in the head with the door jam. Kagome watched the car disappear down the road before sitting next to the car seat, tears pouring out of eyes.

***End Flashback***

A car horn blaring snapped Kagome out of her thoughts as she looked in the rearview mirror, seeing the line of cars filled with parents eager to drop off their children at school. Kagome shook her head to clear her mind as she put the car into drive and started down the road to work.

Hey guys, what did you think? Review and let me know! Until next time!


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